Hearts have backed a call for the SPFL to hold an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) as the fallout from the league’s controversial season-ending vote continues.

The Tynecastle outfit were one of three alongside Rangers and Stranraer to request a conference of all 42 sides in light of the ballot to terminate the Scottish football season below the Premiership.

All three sides submitted requisitions to league bosses on Monday, with the SPFL scheduling the meeting for May 12.

Under league rules, an EGM must be held if three of the 42 member clubs request it.

The SPFL resolution to halt the 2019/20 campaign passed after Championship side Dundee changed their voting intention from ‘no’ to ‘yes’ after a technical fault prevented their original ballot from reaching the organisation.

An investigation commissioned by the SPFL into the vote - which crowned Dundee United, Raith Rovers and Cove Rangers champions of Scotland’s bottom three tiers - found “no evidence of impropriety”.

However, Rangers say they have a dossier of evidence which suggests otherwise, with Ibrox chiefs claiming they will present it “well in advance” of any meeting.

The Glasgow club want an independent investigation into the vote and have called for SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster to be suspended until such a probe is carried out.

The vote does not automatically end the Scottish Premiership season, but does provide a mandate for those in charge of the league to do so should it become apparent the remaining eight fixtures cannot be played in reasonable time.

That would mean Hearts suffering the same fate as Partick Thistle and Stranraer in being demoted from their respective divisions with matches still to play.

Brechin City, the league’s basement club, will not be relegated however, with Lowland League winners Kelty Hearts and Highland League equivalents Brora Rangers remaining in their separate divisions as it stands.

Hearts chief Ann Budge is heading a task force aimed at overhauling the Scottish football pyramid, but all ten clubs in League Two have already signalled their intention to back a 14-14-14 model preserving the 42 current clubs in the SPFL system.